What Lies Beneath
by Sparrowfeathers
Summary: Little boys in cabinets, flickering lights, disappearing socks, creepy ladies following her home, Sakura has experienced everything the supernatural world had to offer, that is, until a certain ghost starts to call himself her guardian angel. AU -Dark Fic-
1. Underneath

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

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 _..oo0oo.._

 **What lies beneath**

 **Chapter One**

 **Underneath**

 _..oo0oo.._

The existence of ghosts has been a controversial one spanning over a time period of several centuries. Souls of the undead or just mischievous demons haunting humans for the pure pleasure of it, the answers becoming cloudier and cloudier as more and more facts are dug out. Perhaps it would be a mystery that will never be answered.

What was true, however, were the people born or bestowed with the gift (or curse, depending on you ask) to see these spirits. Souls who are haunted with the ability to see past the veil that kept ordinary humans out from the realm of the dead, and entering that world themselves. Permanently.

Because when you start seeing ghost, you never go back.

 _..oo0oo.._

The piercing sound of an alarm woke a very sleepy Haruno Sakura from her slumber. She stared at it, the blinking digital letters reading seven in the morning as the alarm continued to blare. Slamming the stop button, she slumped out of the cozy confines of her bed and stretched, her reflection on the mirror showing a half-dead girl with wild pink hair sticking up in all directions. She scratched her hair and blearily stumbled to the bathroom.

The hot water that hit her face was the exact same temperature that she had grown accustomed to during her stay at the apartment. There were only two choices here at the dorms of Konoha state college of science and technology, and it was a choice of freeze-your-ass-cold or mildly scalding. Sakura gladly took the latter option over anything.

Precisely twenty minutes later, Sakura emerged from her bedroom, fully clothed and presentable. She took out the marmalade from the fridge and liberally applied them on two pieces of brown bread. A glass of orange juice sat at the left corner of her small dining table. She scanned the room lazily as she munched on her bread, her plain looking living room was meticulously tidy, and while her laundry basket needed her attention, she could probably deal with that later.

She washed her plate and by seven-forty sharp she was done and ready to leave. She gave one more glance to her quiet room and smiled. Silent, peaceful and tidy, just the way she liked it.

Her walk to campus was short and brisk, the crisp summer air fresh and cool as the weather got progressively colder nearer to autumn. But for now, it was still relatively warm as she trotted on to the lecture hall in a simple tank top and leggings. She entered the nearly empty hall at eight and sat at her seat near the window towards the front. Her class commence five minutes later and she studiously took notes as her human anatomy teacher lecturer, Miss Shizune went on and on.

A short break at eleven and the continuation of her classes at one for another five hours. The heavy list of subjects she was required to take were the norm for a med-student.

Around four in the afternoon, Sakura found herself slowly dozing off. The lecturer went on and on describing each subject with much detail but she couldn't help but to feel sleep drag itself closer and closer into it's grasp.

Just another average day in the average life of Sakura Haruno.

Averagely average Sakura, who was of average height, of average build, of average looks and besides a head of shocking pink hair, could turn no head on the street.

She grew up in an average home, raised by average parents, went to an average school, graduated averagely (ranking 175 out of the 350 students in her year), and was planning to continue her tertiary education in an average local university.

She liked her nice, average life. Rewinding itself like a clock everyday, every week, every month, every year. The same life, over and over again.

She yawned and sat up straighter, trying to focus on the topic at hand. No point paying for her college funds if she wasn't going to make full use of all her professors.

Yes, she thought to herself, scribbling furiously into a notebook, this was just the life she needed.

It might be boring, and dull as a rock, but at least it was peaceful and predictable.

Just the way she liked it.

Except that, Sakura sighed, eyeing the small pale figure squirming below her seat, and gave it a small shove. It disappeared with a squeak and fell through the fall, vanishing as fast as it appeared.

Perfectly average Sakura could see ghosts.

Little kids in closets, checked. Mysterious sounds from her attic, check. The occasional ghost under curtain, double check. Sakura had seen them all, and by this point, it hardly bothered her.

The first few years were hard, with those little critters following her like mad, popping up everywhere she went. In her sink, her dining table, even in her rice cooker. She remembered screaming her head off and running like a headless chicken, sobbing to her unfortunate parents who would just sigh. But no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't get them to see the ghosts.

During the winter she turned 14, Sakura Haruno has decided she had enough of them ghosts, and slammed the bonnet of the car so hard on the ghost it dented. Did she get grounded? Yes. Was it worth the spanking she got? Not entirely. But at least she could now use the toilet in peace without wondering if her little 'friends' would pop out of the sink.

What Sakura learned was that fear was what drew all the undead to you, the lesser your fear, the lesser the ghost. Hardly anything they did fazed her anymore.

Knife through back? Swell. Missing heart? Splendid. You can take your head of your shoulders? Well, why don't you put it in my toilet so I can flush it down?

In short, even the most haunted of toilets couldn't even make her blink an eye.

And the ghosts hated that.

Her lecture ended, and she quickly got up and left the hall alone as groups of students began to form packs to plan outings for a meal together and whatnot. She did not need to be there, and there were better things for her to do at home anyway. The darkening sky forming stark shadows that made the corridor seem even creepier than it usually was. She quicken her pace when she heard a large group loudly laughing somewhere behind her.

It didn't matter.

Not that anyone invited out either anyway.

Even though she had never spoken to any of her course mates.

It was still fairly bright out as Sakura walked home. She stopped by an old eatery ran by a fairly nice older woman named Kurenai, who never had an unkind word to say and was generally a very pleasant lady.

'Hello Kurenai, she smiled and took a seat at one of the low coffee tables. The music playing in the background was classical, and soothed her immensely as she slung her backpack on the couch.

'Hey Sakura, lecture ending so late today?' Kurenai handed her a menu, she nodded, and stared at the colurful paper.

'What's great to go with coffee?' She asked, setting it down, too many choices made her head spin, and everything was just that good here.

Kurenai hummed. 'Well, I'll personally go for the apple and peanut butter combo sandwich, but knowing you, I think some blueberry pancakes would do the treat.'

Sakura agreed. Waffles did sound fantastic now. 'That will do, along with the biggest cup of coffee you have. I might have to stay up a little later tonight.' Kurenai winked back at her and disappeared into the kitchen.

The fading daylight made the whole city look brighter from her perspective, as groups of people flocked past the shop, all with a purpose, all with a sense of belonging. Laughing and talking as they passed her without a second glance. They were all so sure, so confident of themselves, as if life itself was one big journey. Sakura felt so lost in that retrospect, a lone tree in the barren land.

She felt very, very alone.

She quickly shook her head, best not get such thoughts here, she did not want to worry poor Kurenai. She quickly shoveled her delicious waffles and promptly paid for her meal.

'Sakura.' Kurenai cried out to her as she pushed through the door in an attempt to escape. 'You know.. If you need anything, I'm always here alright.'

Sakura faked a smile, 'Thanks Kurenai, but I'm alright.' And left before the other lady could stop her.

Deep down inside her, she knew she was everything but alright, and there was nothing anyone could do to help her.

At seven in the evening, Sakura Haruno returned to her empty college dorm, ignoring the signs of life all around her as she stepped into the dreary space and shut the outside world out.

She took a quick bath, brushed her teeth and changed into a comfortable top and shorts. With her towel still draped around her shoulders, Sakura began to review her notes from the day before.

And it is just like that, time flies. Sakura concentrated on her work, ignoring the occasional moan or flickering lights that occured, as long as nothing really happened, she would be alright. It has always been like that.

By ten minutes to twelve, Sakura Haruno was in her room and getting ready to sleep after another perfectly average day.

She did her final rounds, chasing away any stray ghost to avoid anything funny happening to her while she slept.

Every now and then she would get another visitor, but they never lasted for more than a few minutes, disappearing quickly and were soon replace by another pale looking figure. The dead were always a little strange, with their pitch black eyes and weird mannerisms. It was as if they were little mimes, especially when they wore their little white outfits.

Her average life was left in peace.

Exactly how she wanted it to be.

By the time Sakura was in bed, her digital clock beeped exactly twelve in the morning. She closed her eyes and waited for sleep to come.

Nothing would disturb her peace. She absolutely wouldn't allow it.

Even if she wanted something more.

Even if she wanted to be more than who she was destined to be.

That night, Sakura Haruno fell asleep with doubts clouding her average mind.

That was until, a man in black climbed out from under her covers.

And for the first time in 6 years, Sakura Haruno's average life was left to crumble in shambles.

 _..oo0oo.._

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 **AN: Hello! My name is sparrowfeathers and welcome to What lies beneath! Hopefully, I'll get around to finishing this story *crosses fingers***

 **It was an idea I've been playing around for some time and I sincerely hope that we will have a wonderful journey together.**

 **Fair warning though, this is an AU story and it can get pretty dark in certain chapters, so expect some OOC-ness. Like some things just wont fit, while some characters will be a little different. But I assure you, I'll try my best to keep everyone as realistic as I can.**

 **Speaking of dark scenes, it will be kept mostly to the later chaptes, but I will try my best to balance it out to keep it from being too depressing.**

 **I'll be basically keeping every chapter short and sweet, for update reasons. Updates will hopefully frequent, even daily if you guys are very nice *winkwink***

 **Next chapter: Sakura does not appreciate her vistor, not at all**

 **Revision 1 (21/1/16): Rewritten almost entirely for better story flow, grammatical errors corrected.**

 **R &R**


	2. Awakening from the Dark

_..oo0oo.._

 **What Lies Beneath**

 **Chapter 2**

 **Awakening from the Dark**

 _..oo0oo.._

It was pitch dark, swallowing him whole, head first and all.

How long had he even been there..? Days? Months? Years? He could not recall a time when he wasn't forced to live in the stuffy confines of his prison.

He struggled for breath, flailing around madly in the haunting darkness as he searched for comfort, the tightness around his chest strengthening its hold upon him as the seconds ticked by unnoticed by him. He flailed wildly, hands trying to grasp unto a life force which they never found, slowly feeling as though the air was being knocked out from him. In the darkness, he felt himself slowly losing his mind, bit by bit, memories fading further and further away from his grasp in the dark ocean. He tried frantically to remember anything, just anything, but only a blank slate came into his mind. His chest burned, and he found himself curling into a tight ball as a pool of blood gathered at his feet and felt the invisible forces around him tighten their grip on his throat..

It burned, the black fire beneath him slowly engulfed everything in it's path, and not even the deep sea could extinguish it. It ravaged onward, flames waiting hungrily for him to be brought within reach. He could feel the flames against his skin, the fire burning him with such a strange intensity.

It was so hot in the suffocating space, but yet why did he feel so cold...?

A small white hand grabbed unto him, shinning like fireflies during midnight, balling its fist around his shirt. The black flames disappeared, he looked down, and swallowed a scream as his nerves wrecked his entire frame.

Tiny, tiny faces, the same little boy, the same pupil-less eyes, the same dead look in all of them and blood ran down their chubby cheeks. They smiled at him, their even pearly whites mocking him.

 _You can't even save yourself, who are you trying to be? A hero?_

 _Perhaps this is what you deserve._

A million tiny hands emerged from the pool of blood, coiling around him like snakes, he couldn't even struggle against them. They dragged him deeper into the pool, and for a moment all he saw was the same scene of red that will never leave him, and allowed himself to be dragged into the deepest parts of this ocean of despair as a trail of mocking whispers and scoffs followed him.

They were right, they always were. He closed his eyes, patiently waiting for the darkness that be to swallow him whole. He wasn't anyone important, he wasn't anything for that matter. Who was he trying to kid, believing for that one second that he could do more then what he was meant to do. He had always knew, deep down, this was what he will always be.

The emptiness inside him stirred. He clutched his chest, and felt no heartbeat.

A child's dead body, an endless sea of red, a crying man.

That was the last thing he saw, when a faint thought echoed in his head. The first few notes of a forgotten memory, the first few whispers of an unsung song.

The first lights of daybreak in his endless nightmare.

He opened his eyes.

He must protect Haruno Sakura.

 _..oo0oo.._

He knew he was a well-mannered young man. Why, he'll even call himself a very fine lad indeed. Sophisticated, mature and poised.

Definitely unlike the screaming girl who so rudely punched him in the face.

And slapped him so hard he fell to her icky girly- grey blanket..?

'Haruno Sakura-' He started, and got a swift nail on the head with a lamp. Damn, why did he just had to get the crazy ones? He thought as he saw stars. He tumbled off the bed and fell unto the carpeted ground like a sack of potatoes, his head spinning. The mad lady on the other hand attempted to pull the door off it's hinges in an attempt to escape, all the while screaming threats at him.

Thankfully he had locked the door before hand.

He was, after all, a very smart man indeed, he thought, smiling triumphantly, until a lamp fell dangerously near his poor head.

He gulped, he needed that head.

The banshee was now trying to mow down the door, looking rather murderous. The door cracked slightly.

Oh God why?

'Haruno Sakura-' He tried to get up, but promptly found a bedside table pushed upon him and felt his insides pressed a bit too firmly to his rib cage, knocking all the air out of him and made his eyes water a little from the dust.

'Get. Away. From. Me.' The little monster hissed, poising to shove a rather heavy looking bag of books into his skull, eyes glinting like two silver daggers in the pitch darkness. He gulped and raised both hands in the air. Surely she will pity him, poor, defenseless, old-

She carefully balanced her foot on the table, glaring at him as she placed the bad threateningly near his face. It looked even heavier up close.

What a horrid monster...!

I would, if I weren't stuck under this horrible table, something inside him grumbled. Miss Haruno, please release me, he tried to plead, but the words found no way to leave his mouth, and a babble of incomprehensible language escaped him. He gave a tired smile, hoping to relay the message, only to find his cheek firmly plastered to a very heavy bag. Oof.

She stared at him for the longest time, eyes narrow and yet still glinting in the darkness. He felt himself staring back at her too, boring into those bright, bright eyes..

It felt as if time itself had stopped, the world coming to a halt as the couple exchange looks for the first time. He saw her eyes, guarded, vulnerable, and tired, too forlorn for such a young one..

Her gaze soften. He inwardly cheered. Success...!

And she proceeded to grab her phone.

'Hello, 911? Yes, there's a stalker under my bed-' He froze, and immediately shot out from under all those books and crashed straight into a very annoyed Miss Haruno.

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 **Next chapter: Perhaps not all guardian angels come with wings.. Or good luck.**

 **R &R**


	3. The Law of Things

_..oo0oo.._

 **What Lies Beneath**

 **Chapter Three**

 **The Law of Things**

 _..oo0oo.._

Murphy has once stated a law, in the infinite spectrum of things, for the world turns in only one direction, and orbits only one star, but yet the possibilities of an action are as infinite as space and time itself. It is, in fact, the greatest mystery of the world which transcends human knowledge, the game alone that only fate can play.

Everything that can go wrong will go wrong.

Haruno Sakura was reminded of this when she met Itachi for the first time.

 _..oo0oo.._

'So let me get this straight, you,' Sakura bit out, and pointed at him, he frowned at her tone. 'Are my 'ghost'..?' He nodded. 'And you are here to stay with me.' She pointed at herself. He nodded quickly. She folded her arms, and nodded to herself. Itachi nearly started cheering. At last! She was finally understanding it-

'Get the hell out of my house now.' He paled, and shook his head frenziedly, but found himself getting pushed to the door.

'If I let one of you in the whole herd would definitely think it's an invitation to ruin my life. No thank you, ghost man.' Sakura told him, and pointed at the door. 'Now please, get out-'

He did a back flip, flying way above her head and nearly grazing her ceiling, landing slowly (and safely, much to her dismay) behind her. He shook his head again.

'Haruno Sakura.' He pointed at her with a deadpan expression.

She was feeling a tick forming on her forehead, and growled. 'What?'

He look at her uncertainly, and pointed at her again. 'Haruno Sakura.' His tone more urgent this time.

Stupid God damned ghost! She didn't have time to play his silly mind games! Not with her mid-terms coming up..

'Leave. Now.' Now the door was opened, and Itachi had proceeded to wedge himself between the fridge and the ceiling like a frightened cat, pushing off a few dishes while he clambered up. Sakura resisted the urge to grab a vase and throw it at him.

'Get out before I get a priest and exorcised the living hell out of you, you asshole!' He cowered into the furthest corner, as she grabbed a chair in an attempt to get him down.

'Haruno Sakura!' He exclaimed when she grabbed his hand and pulled him down, falling on top of her in a tumble of limbs.

'Get off me..!' She hissed, feeling the air getting knocked out of her lungs, wheezing slightly as she pulled herself from under him. He squirmed some more as she roughly pushed him off. 'And stop calling my name! Can't you say anything else?!' She growled as she fought to catch her breath.

He stopped moving and looked towards the ground, unable to make eye contact with her as he slowly shook head. 'Itachi.' He pointed at himself, 'Haruno Sakura.' He pointed a long finger at her.

Sakura found it hard to get mad at him, with that kicked-puppy expression and general gloominess that surrounded him. Her hard eyes soften and she sighed wearily, knowing how well she was going to regret this.

'You really cannot leave, can't you?' She asked exasperatedly. He nodded. 'Dammit.' She was already feeling her peaceful and relatively undisturbed life fade faster and faster away.

She stood up and closed the door. Itachi looked up at her expectantly when she sat down in front of him cross legged. He felt himself drowning in her eyes, swirling pools of green which judged him silently and cautiously.

'So you don't know how to speak?' He nodded shyly. 'And you can't leave me?' He nodded again. That was a fist, most of the ghost she knew could enter and leave without any difficulty. What made him so different? An idea popped in her mind, perhaps this could be the best way to learn more about ghost and maybe even a way to 'cure' herself.

'How was your past life like? Where did you live? How was your family? And..' She paused, 'how did you die?'

If she was expecting anything, she definitely wasn't expecting him to cock his head to one side and stare at her looking very confuse. No random shouting, sad confessions, or sobbing backstories.

He couldn't speak.

He couldn't leave.

And he couldn't remember anything.

If she was to diagnose him with anything, she would say he had post-trauma amnesia.

Sakura put two and two together and asked, 'You can't remember anything, no?' He shook his head sadly, and slowly twirled his finger around the carpet.

He was definitely a mystery, one that piqued her curiosity and made her hungry for more. Just what could make a grown man want to forget everything he knew?

'N-n-no...' Sakura looked up, 'No-oo. No.' He tried out, the new word sounding really foreign on his tongue.

'Yup. No means.. Well, no.' She stopped awkwardly. 'You get the picture.'

Happy to see her approval, as he started to nod again. 'No. No!'

'No. No is when you.' She shook her head, and he copied her hesitantly. 'Thats when you use no, alright?'

'N-noooooo...' He tried it out himself now, focused with concentration, and shook his head. 'No.' He looked up and her and nodded his head. 'Alright.'

Soft giggles suddenly sounded behind them, and the light began to flicker. Itachi unconsciously inched towards her. Suddenly, a couple of little ghost boys floated through her door, scaring the life out of Itachi when one of their eyeballs dropped to the ground and left a rather unsightly trail of black guts. She merely shooed them away like flies as he hid behind her.

Sakura found herself shaking her head as she turned to face her new room mate. It would take some time, but he seemed like a pretty fast learner. It would be better if he stayed here for a while until he was strong enough on his own. A foolish choice, he was probably a ghost magnet,but this was her choice, and she wasn't going to turn out someone who needed her that much.

How bad could it be anyway?

 _..oo0oo.._

Very bad, apparently.

Sakura was beginning to regret her decision.

'Can you stop following me around?!' Sakura snapped at the moody little thunder cloud behind her. He pouted, and kicked the floor dejectedly. She huffed and continued to stride onward to her class, heels clacking loudly against the polished marble floor. Stupid ghost, stupid classes, and curse long corridors! Why did architects not think of the time required walking from one lecture hall to another when building things?

The weather in general had been so pleasant for the past week. Singing birds, blooming flowers and swaying wisteria trees. It was perfect, and did nothing to reflect Sakura's foul mood recently.

It's been two whole days since she first met her new 'friend'. And never had she been more convinced to kill someone.

She had hoped to outrun him and make him lose her tail, but this guy was relentless, in capital letters. He never let her out of his sight, and never did he ever let her walked more than three feet away from him. He insisted on following her everywhere, and she finally drew the line at the bathroom. But everywhere else, her classroom, the halls, even to throw out the trash, he stayed with her. Running around the campus had gave her nothing but screaming calves, and she was almost late for class.

The sharp contrast between their footsteps rang clear through the empty hall way. Hers were short and loud, while his were sparse and soft. He soon quickly caught up to her, following exactly 5 steps behind her.

Stupid tall people..!

The hallway seem to come to an end as she took a sharp turn to the right, into a darker hall. The footsteps behind her got louder until they stopped almost directly behind her.

Sakura growled, feeling her temper teased it's boiling point yet again, what was it going to be now? Exploding windows? Falling tables? Colliding vehicles? For as much as he claimed to be her 'good luck charm', he certainly has brought her nothing but bad luck. And if he was suppose to be 'protecting' her from some unknown entity, he was definitely failing very badly. Never had she seen so many car accidents nor destroyed chemistry labs in her life.

And it was all his fault!

She felt a light tap on her back, and turned behind, just as her brand new bag strap tore and fell to the ground with a loud thud. In the distance, she heard the chemistry lab explode.

They both stated at it, and then each other.

Itachi gulped, eyeing his shorter companion hesitantly, whose eyes twitched as she bore daggers into her bag, if looks could kill..

He hurriedly scurried away behind a wall, before he bore witness to her wrath.

Oh, she was definitely kicking him out now.

She growled, and entered her lecture hall, cursing it's distance and Itachi as she slammed the door behind her.

Even with all the murderous intentions she had, a small twinge of pity pricked the depths of Sakura's heart looking at Itachi's pitiful attempt to enter without Sakura noticing him. She could not imagine how it must have felt, alone with no memories, lost and in an unknown place, with only a stranger to call your friend. It was really tragic.

But it called upon the question which had been bugging her for some time now.

Just who was Itachi? And what was he trying to protect her from?

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 **A/N: Well, just who is Itachi? You'll have to dig deeper to find out;)**

 **I've rewritten most of chapter 1, so you may want to go back and read it. I hope the story flows better now.**

 **On a side note, I would really appreciate a little more feed back on the story. I'm really unsure of what you guys think about it so far and it'll be great to get some reviews. How has the story been so far, tell me kay? Remember, reviewing is love!**

 **Next Chapter: Itachi learns a little more about Sakura, and finds the chinks in her armor.**

 **R &R**


	4. Lone Walker

_..oo0oo.._

 **What Lies Beneath**

 **Chapter Four**

 **Lone Walker**

 _..oo0oo.._

Sometimes in the night, Itachi had the strangest of dreams.

Standing alone in the middle of a vast green plain with every flower imaginable surrounding him, or floating on a rickety boat out in the ocean, or drowning in the pools of sweat in the vast sand dunes in the hot desert, those dreams always started out fairly normal and pleasant.

He'll then hear the faint voices of loved ones behind him, how he knew, he couldn't tell, but his heart always seemed to ached even more as he searched for the sources of those voices. And the heart never lies.

Who are you..? And who am I..? Those questions always burned at the back of his mind as she rushed around madly in order to find them.

He'll struggle in his search, those tinkering echoes of his memories whispering in and out of his mind. He'll struggle and search for them, but it was by fate that he would never see them again.

Today, his dream started out like how they usually did. He lay on top of a snowy peak mountain, as powders of snow fell all around him. The air here was fresh and froze his lungs, and the sky above him stretched forth to the unseen corners of the dream world, grey and drab, reminding him of his eternal shackle to the realm of the living.

 _Itachi._

It was that voice again. He turned and saw a family of three standing right behind him at the edge of the mountain, a couple and their son. The little boy waved at him with a smile so bright on his face it lighted up the whole world.

His felt his heart crawl up his throat and his breathing hiked as time slowed to a stop.

 _Itachi._

He stumbled up and ran towards them, not caring that the snow melted through his jeans and froze his feet, the pile of snow made it hard to run, but not once did he stop to reach the family.

As they got closer and closer, he felt his breath hike and open his arms, ready to grab them just before they disappeared again. I'm coming now, he thought, wait for me..!

They were so close now, just inches away from him, he could almost feel their warmth. He felt the urge to apologise to them, to tell them how sorry he was for his actions, and tell them how much he regretted hurting them..

 _Itachi._

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry.. Forgive me, please..." He begged them, grasping them so tight his knuckles went white and begun to shake, the snow around him began to fall in larger clumps, as if the sky itself too were crying. He didn't know what he apologising for, he didn't know what wrong he had done, nor who they even were, but the pain in his chest demanded that he do so. Why was his heart hurting so bad..? Why did it have to hurt so much..

Just as he tried to bring them closer to feel their warmth, he realised how empty his hands felt, their warmth leaving him so fast it left him breathless in the snow. They gave him sad smiles as the snow under them gave way, and fell off the peak, slowly and surely to their deaths as he watched them.

No... Not again.. No..

"I'm so sorry.. I-I failed.." He whispered, falling headfirst into the snow. "I'm so sorry.." He could not save them, even in his dreams, he let them die. Itachi felt his body grow colder and colder all around him, the snow burying him like a thick blanket as the small pale hands began dragging him to the pitch black darkness that all his nightmares ended in, where it burned and agonised him for as long as he slept.

 _I'm sorry._

He awoke shortly after that drenched in sweat to the dark blue light of dawn. And for the first time since he came, Itachi felt truly and desperately alone.

 _..oo0oo.._

"Why don't we go out for lunch today, hmm? We can drop by the bookstore again later to get more books." Itachi looked down curiously at her, and nodded, not having a slightest idea what lunch meant. Despite the fiasco in the morning, she seemed to be in a rather good mood today, not that he minded it.

"I'm thinking of something sweet. Kurenai's desserts are the best. It's still open now too." She rambled on, Itachi followed behind her silently, preferring to remain silent until necessary as the'y took a couple sharp turns into a rather upbeat eating district. Whatever this desert thing was, as long as it made her happy he'll be fine.

She looked at his unreadable expression, something.. was a little off. He was too detached, too distant, he hardly insisted on following her as much now, preferring to sit in the corners of the living room in silence. It had only been a week since he appeared, but in the past day or two, his familiarity has slowly diminished, leaving an empty shell in his place.

The shop they stopped at was brightly lit with trendy colours and bright neon lights, there were plenty of low sofas and coffee tables scattered throughout the store as fairy lights and posters decorated the walls. Itachi frowned, it was little too bright for him.

"Ahh, Sakura, dropping by so soon again?' A pretty black haired woman with stunning red eyes called from behind the counter, waving at Sakura.

"Yup, you know I can never stray too far away from your store Kurenai." She glanced down hungrily at the display of cakes and pies. "What's today's specialty?"

Kurenai smiled. 'You know everything here is our specialty.' And for reasons unknown, they both laughed. What strange people, Itachi thought as his head banged against the counter frame.

"But you know,' Kurenai continued, 'This pecan baby just came out of the oven, along with our freshly made peach rhubarb." She pointed at the very delicious looking pie, which smelled so good Sakura could nearly taste it.

"I'll take one each then, and the usual of course." Kurenai winked at her, and cut out a generous helping of pie as she dug around her bag for her purse, handing the owner a crisp ten dollar bill in exchange for a fat plastic bag filled with goodies.

"Bring a friend the next time you drop by, I'll throw in another piece of pie alright?" Sakura gave a sad smile and said her goodbyes before leaving. The strange expression on her face bothered Itachi so much that twenty minutes later at her one room apartment he found himself unable to eat.

"Hey, you're pie is going to grow cold if you don't eat it. We don't waste food around here alright?" He looked up from his uneaten piece of deliciousness and saw Sakura already halfway through her rhubarb. She looked at him expectantly and pushed the the pie closer to him. He spooned up the delicious goodness, thinking to himself. It did seem awfully quiet in her little room. She called it peaceful but he felt the loneliness emitting through the four bland walls. He closed his eyes and imagined a room without him nor the other ghost,and a blank face girl stared back at him. He frowned, the only human interaction he had seen her have was with the pie lady. He smelled the pie hesitantly and took a nibble, was it normal for people to live so independently- He felt his eyes bulge out from their sockets when the sweet taste of pecan graced his palate, that pie was orgasmic..!

Pleased with his response, she got back to her finishing pudding. They both ate in silence, savoring the sweet texture of the dessert. Sakura now slowing her pace to better enjoy her desert, while Itachi resisted the urge to slam his face into the container.

By the time he pulled his face out of it, his partner was chasing away a creepy looking female out from her refrigerator. The thing moaned and slowly descended into another wall, causing the picture on it to fall and crash. She merely sighed and hung it back.

"I guess we can call it a day.' She called out to him from the sink as he trudge towards her. 'We'll probably be alone again, unless you include the other ghosts of course."

"A-Alone..? Sakura Haruno?" He asked. She nodded, kept the utensils away in a drawer and turned to face him.

"Mhmm. Just you and me and our... 'friends." She grimaced at the word and went over to her room to pick out some clothes.

"Sakura Haruno, friends.. where?' He saw her body stiffen but continued to pack her clothes. His expression must have gave away his worry as she merely shook her head.

"It's nothing Itachi." She was pushing him away, just like how she pushed everyone who came near. She walked towards the door. "I just like my alone time that's all. It doesn't really matter anyway." Her tone was light and fake and she got up. He grabbed her hand and went closer, persisting more now so that his curiosity had been spiked.

"No, Sakura Haruno. No alone.." She noticed how he was more than a good foot taller than her, how easily he could overpower her, and just how intoxicating his eyes were. Her heart drummed loudly against her ribs as icy fear gripped her and she tore away from his grasp as though it stung her, stumbling to the door.

She was alone, and always will be alone. All she had were her ghosts. Nothing more..

"Itachi, please.. stop.." She begged him, no more, just.. no more.. It hurt so much..

Push it away, push them all away.

"No. Sakura Haruno." He grabbed her her wrist, and tried to pull her closer to him.

"Just stop! Stop talking about me! What about yourself, hmm? You come here and demand to follow me everywhere as if I'm some damsel in distress, but you can't even remember your own last name! Just-Just who are you..?!" In his shock, she pushed him away and grabbed her chest in an attempt to stop the pain.

Itachi felt something in him split open, the fresh wound painting his heart with a fresh coat hurt. He tried to reach out for her but she slapped his hand away. "Leave me alone..! Please, just go.." And she tore into the bathroom, ignoring all the mocking smiles which laughed at her all the way, each finger pointed leaving a new scar on her mind.

She slammed the toilet door behind her, and buried her head in her shaking hands.

Just few feet away, Itachi did the same as the ghosts slowly rose up from around him.

* * *

 **A/N: Just what is happening with these two? What skeletons in the closet does Miss Haruno have to hide? Remember, review is love, reviewing is life (and the secret code to the next chapter)**

 **Next Chapter: Things spiral out of control, and the ghosts begin to act weird.**

 **R &R**


	5. Shrouded Secrets

_..oo0oo.._

 **What Lies Beneath**

 **Chapter Five**

 **Shrouded Secrets**

 _..oo0oo.._

Regret was a feeling he was well accustomed to.

He had so many things he regretted in his life. His words, his actions, his mistakes. He would even say that his entire life was just one big pile of regret.

Regret for his lack of intuition, his lack of understanding, and his lack of care.

If only he had been more careful, more decisive, more certain, none of this would have happen.

It was the night Sakura Haruno pushed him away for the first time did he remember what it truly meant to be snared in the cruel wiles of the living with no means of escaping his fate no matter how hard he tried.

None of this would have happen if he had just been a better person.

If only he had known.

None of them would be feeling the way they felt now.

Itachi placed an arm over his eyes, trying to ease the pain in his mind, the sea within his heart churning and raging against him with his it's rough blows, with each hit he felt closer and closer to tearing all his walls down.

So much pain, so much hurt, and he didn't even understand why.

Why did it hurt so much?

He heard the bathroom door open and close sometime around two in the morning, and was shortly followed by the bedroom door's familiar long squeak as it was closed shut. He turned into a more comfortable position as the weight in his heart lifted ever so slightly. He gave a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness she was alright..

But even with that slight relief, the echoing pain in his chest never left, even as he watched the living room slowly changed from the familiar inky darkness to the deepest shades of ocean blue as it slowly became a light lilac and pink mixture, the stars bidding him goodbye as the lone sun slowly rose overhead, and the sky erupted in the brightest shades of red and orange which slowly turned to the familiar cerulean sky he had come to love.

In the end, he spent a sleepless night finding for an answer he could never come to.

And even as he struggled to gather up his courage to knock on her door to apologise to her just half an hour later, Itachi found it impossible to lift his arm abode his shoulder, it remained stubbornly by his side.

He just couldn't do it

Collapsing into the lumpy couch, he slumped down as he balanced a pillow over his chest, feeling very irritated at himself. Just go and apologise to her already-

"Itachi..?" His heart stopped when Sakura called when she opened her bedroom door slightly passed eight in the morning. Damn him for ruining her sleep schedule. She peered nervously around the small apartment when she realised how abnormally silent it was. By this time of the day, she would have expected Itachi to burst into her room in a fit of worry.

She turned to the living area, and stared into his eyes as he lay upside down on the sofa.

Neither spoke for a minute until Itachi opened his mouth.

"Sakura Haruno-" He tried to speak, but was immediately cut off.

"I'm sorry Itachi. About last night. Things..' She trailed off, scratching her head as she felt her tongue go dry, but steeled her nerves, "Things just got really intense and-and I hope we can move past this."

Itachi blinked, not exactly the response he had been expecting, but it sounded so cold, so foreign, and strange, something was a little off from her tone..

"Sorry, Sakura Haruno. Very sorry." He told her in return. She nodded absently, and went off to prepare breakfast for them both. Itachi watched her leave, and mentally berated himself for being too much of a coward to even apologise for his words.

 _..oo0oo.._

"I was thinking you know.. That we should set up some boundaries, to avoid talking about stuff that'll make things... Awkward around here." Sakura said over her bowl of cereal. Just opposite her, Itachi looked up from his own soggy creation that he made in his over enthusiastic attempt to pour them both the milk. He felt a strange gnawing feeling drumming against his chest somewhere near the aching hole of regret, but force himself to nod along to her terms anyway. He just wanted to protect her after all, not drive her further away from him.

Sakura sighed with relief, and leaned back into her chair, spooning another mouthful of soggy cheerios into her mouth. "I won't say anything hurtful about your circumstances and you don't ask about mine." Her gaze grew distant as set her spoon down. "It doesn't even matter anyway."

Here he frowned. Was she trying to convince herself that? He did not understand how a person with memories would regret having them, when he himself had no memories to call his.

They cleaned up shortly afterwards, her doing the dishes and the drying, while he tried to whip up some coffee which eventually ended up with him putting in too much creamer to make it drinkable without Sakura getting diabetes. They settled for orange juice at the end when Sakura suggested that they hit up the library, which made him so excited he spilled orange juice all over the floor.

Ten minutes later, they were both ready to leave. With the days getting progressively colder, Sakura decided to add a jacket to her outfit, with a pair of trusty sneakers, the pair then left the messy apartment.

The library at her college was an old brick building with crooked roofs and chimney that wasn't really connected to anything way at the top. The red bricks were old and faded from years of abuse, ivy crept all over the west side of the building. It had been refurnished many times in the past, but generally till remained the same external appearance since the college was first built.

With it's small windows, iron bar grills, and looming corridors that never seem to end, Sakura tended to avoid the prison-like place, usually going there only when she ran out of study material or when the internet wasn't working.

Thankfully the wifi in her room was pretty consistent.

Until a certain someone spilled water all over it a couple of days ago.

She turned her head to steal a glance at her.. Roommate, (She wasn't about to call him her friend yet.) who sat quietly few seats away from her curled up in an armchair and half buried by the book in his hands, a few more stacked around him.

It was a little weird sometimes to remember that despite his appearance, her partner was little more than a very young child. But thankfully he didn't scream or cry as much. So mild tempered and well-behaved and polite..

She rested her cheek on the palm of her hand, balancing her cheap ballpoint pen on her nose. He reminded her a little too much of a house pet right now. Definitely not a dog, she thought, crossing it out of her mental list. A cat, perhaps? No, she shook her head, a rabbit. He sneezed. Definitely a rabbit.

What did that make her then? She would ask him one day.

Sakura turned back to the thick book before her, Amnesia and it's Causes. It probably won't even solve much, with him being dead and all, but it'll probably bring some answers in.

Hopefully, she thought as Itachi slid off the armchair and crashed into the pile of books.

She slowly flipped through the book, scanning it lazily, the fine print made her eyes hurt. She squinted a bit towards the end of the page, feeling herself slowly slipping off...

"Haruno Sakura." A tall shadow loomed over her shoulder, and she felt her neck tingle slightly by the strands of a curtain of black hair, and the faint scent of the forest tickled her nose. Turning her head, she found herself staring straight back into obsidian eyes.

"Uhm.. Yes?" She stammered out, moving quickly away from him as far as the table would allow her, knocking over a few books in the process. But Itachi was relentless, and continued to move closer, so close until she could see each individual hair on his eyebrow. The creases across his face more pronounce up close, along with his very sharp jawline and high nose. Why had she never noticed that before?

He brought up the book in between them, which promptly ripped itself in half and fell on her lap with a sickening thud. Ah, because he was a twat.

A headache forming, she took the book from her lap, "That was an expensive book you know.." He looked at her quizzically and tore out another page. She shook her head, no point in explaining that now, and tried to salvage the damage.

"Let's see, we need some tape, scissors and- Itachi!" She whispered angrily as he knocked over a lamp in his haste to grab the tape. He paid her no heed as he ran off with it, shocking the other library occupants with a sudden rush of wind which seemingly came from no where.

"Itachi!" She swore to God he was going to be the death of her. She tore away from the desk and sped into the long corridors, following the sound of the footsteps.

Thunder growled in the distance, the sky overhead growing darker and darker as the seconds ticked past, soon, sound of rain pounding against the roof resonated throughout the building. It started somewhat slow, but grew progressively more and more violent as she ran past the corridor. Occasionally, a flash of lightning would light up the otherwise dim room, it's blinding light casting a strange spell that turned her into a dark silhouette. The iron bars around it forming cross sections that seemed to trapped her into a prison. It felt as though no matter how far she ran, she was getting no where.

A smiling long haired blond flashed into her mind, she angrily pushed it away, gritting her teeth. Not now, not now...

In her anger, she took a sharp turn to her left, and nearly got impaled.

She stared at the spear, black and smooth, glinting menacingly, until an eye popped out and stared at her.

 _Hungry.. Very hungry.._

It was impossible, but at that exact moment, she felt as though thousands of people now packed the hallway, their lips pressed against her ear as they continued to whisper words that made her heart stop. The unfamiliar sensation of a million tiny fingers ran through her body all at once as she felt herself getting pulled in all directions.

Her body froze and she felt her stomach drop like lead, tears pricking the corner of her eyes as the thing got closer to her. A shapeless blob with countless eyes which zeroed in on her, her breath hiked, and her heart beating so fast she swore it would come out. She tried to scramble away, but her body refused to cooperate with her, she wanted to scream so badly, yet even with her mouth wide open, she could say nothing as the creature brought it's weapon upon her head.

A flash of black jumped in front of her, his ponytail flashing wildly behind him as a wall of fire erupted between them and the monster. The flame and impact was so big she was thrown back a few feet. She wanted to scream for him to get away, to get help, and remembered that could never get help, he could never return the way he used to be..

The smoke cleared away, and Itachi knelt down beside her, resting his head on her shoulder. She couldn't help but gasp with wide eyes at the blackened hall way and what was left of the creature. He... Did this..?

"Haruno.. Sakura..." Itachi muttered, slowly sitting up straighter. One look at his face and she felt a sense of dread unlike any other she had ever felt.

A pair of blood red eyes with three tomoe looked expectantly back at her.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm sorry for the slow start, but (hopefully) this is where the fun starts. Can't you just feel my excitement? I wonder if you guys are just as excited as I am! Tell me in the reviews what you think!**

 **Next Chapter: More things burst in flames and Sakura is in for a wild ride.**


	6. Turning Tides

***Important Author's note below!**

* * *

 _..oo0oo.._

 **What Lies Beneath**

 **Chapter Six**

 **Turning Tides**

 _..oo0oo.._

Sakura glanced worriedly at the lying form on her bed, and bit her lip. The faint light from the moon gently illuminated the room with the softest shades of grey, casting eerie shadows at different corners of the room.

After the initial fight with... The thing, Itachi had set off all the smoke alarms in the library and everyone in the building received a very unwanted shower. Of course, the cause of it was still unknown to the faculty and students outside of them both.

From the stress of his battle and having to run to the nearest entrance to observe the men put out the fire, Itachi shortly after fainted and was forced to be dragged back to the apartment by Sakura. Thankfully, ghost Itachi was as light as they come, though, she did get a few weird stares along her way home..

The cool late summer wind drifted in through the open window, causing her thin curtains to burst open like a wave of water, encompassing them both and slowly dragged them into the deep darkness of the room. The distant sounds of the students below her dorm echoed slightly, bringing life to the otherwise very still room.

Sakura got up to close the windows, but the touch of the cold metal frame made her realise how much she was shaking. She grabbed both hands together but it just made her realise how much she was shaking and felt the world spin.

She fell to the floor and leaned against the bed frame, curling into a small ball as she shivered uncontrollably. Her anger rose, dammit girl, get a hold of yourself. If her old self could have seen her now, she would have slapped herself silly. But even with those thoughts, her fears refused to subside.

She felt terrified remembering the scene; the black blob inching closer and closer towards her, the malicious looking blade coming so close to kissing her neck, her death that nearly followed, the eruption of fire that appeared out of no where, and the disturbing red eyes that Itachi had. She shivered and hugged herself closer, it just wasn't normal.

Just who was Itachi? He definitely wasn't any normal ghost. That burst of flame he seemingly brought forth out of no where was not lost to her. Never, in all her time with her ability to see the undead, had she ever seem a ghost do anything even remotely resembling the stunt he had just pulled.

And what did those red eyes mean? How did he get them? What could they do? More questions now clouded the unmoving figure on her bed, each bringing forth a mystery of it's own. She fingered her faded pink shirt, lost in thought. She felt like waking him up just to get those answers, except that he probably knew less than she did. It was frustrating knowing that the answers were escaping her.

Then, it hit her.

Was Itachi even a ghost?

Sakura jolted up, eye widening in realisation. Thinking more about it, he neither looked nor acted like the usual ghost. His skin wasn't pale and sickly looking, neither did he dress in those ridiculous stripped outfits most of the ghost wore. He was fit, healthy and donned a simple black shirt and jeans.

From the corner of her eye, she saw his chest rise and fall evenly. And felt ever so slightly relieved.

Relieved that he was fine, relieved that he was alright, relieved that he was still here next to her. Despite her prior hesitation, it felt.. Good to have someone who cared for her and to care for. It made her feel so warm and strange, but in a good way, and brought back familiar memories of lazy summer afternoons..

 _We'll always be together, Sakura!_

She banged her head against her knees, she knew better than to get hopeful. Itachi was a ghost, and she was not. Despite all his talk to protect her, she was sure that he would leave her. Everyone she had came to know came and left, their existence was only temporary, the question was, when was Itachi going to leave her?

She mustn't get too attached, it would be all the more too painful to heal her heart after she shatters it to a million tiny pieces..

 _..oo0oo.._

Itachi didn't wake up at all throughout the night.

Or even the morning after.

Sakura was getting a little worried about him, but one look at his peaceful face and she let him be. It was good seeing him so carefree and relaxed, without a worry in the world.

She frowned, she wondered if he looked like that when he died.

A quick breakfast of eggs and a cup of coffee later, Sakura decided to set off for class sometime after eight. Oh, she probably had to leave a note for Itachi, just in case he got up and went crazy over her disappearance. She couldn't bear the thought of him tearing down half the campus to find her, she thought and specifically underlined the words 'class' and 'returning later'. Couple minutes later, she was done and ready to go. It was a little later than usual, but she'll survive. Just before she left, she gave a sidelong glance to the room, noting how much more lived in it looked. A coffee mug next to a couple open books, a spiral of blankets crumpled on the couch, a lone pillow lying on the floor. It had only been a week since Itachi forced his way into her life, but already she could feel the difference.

Leaving her apartment dorm, she noticed how there were much more people around her that morning, most of them slowly walking to their respective lectures in groups as their laughter spiced the morning air. She noticed how one of them had a little black rabbit key chain, and instantly thought of her roommate.

By the time she entered the lecture hall, the class was nearly full, but thankfully, her seat near the front was left empty. Sakura let out a silent prayer as she navigated her way to the front. As she got closer to her seat, she noticed how a young female ghost had floated through the floor and took her place. It looked at her dead in the eye and let out a soft moan, as if mocking her late timing.

Sakura held her head up high, and carefully went down the steps, pushing the ghost away once she got to her seat. It moaned again and floated upwards into the ceiling lights, making them flicker. The noise around her took an uncertain pause but she just ignored it. No point giving those ghost any reaction, they sure as hell didn't deserve any time of her day.

"Ex-excuse me, miss.." A soft voice asked from her right, "Is that anyone sitting next to y-you..?" She turned to the source, and came to face to face with a very pretty girl. Long shiny hair with thick eyelashes layering the most gentle eyes she had ever seen, along with a pair of very full lips. The girl wore a thick looking parka and had her face flushed a deep pink. Sakura caught herself staring at her.

"Oh..Err, yeah, sure.." She mumbled unintelligibly, and shifted her back aside to allow the girl in. The stranger nodded her thanks and scurried in. Sakura found herself unable to tear her gaze away from the pair of large lavender eyes, and felt really self-conscious about her looks.

"Th-Thank you very mu-much.." The mysterious girl stuttered, and settled down. Sakura was roughly pulled out of her thoughts when Miss Shizune slammed down a rather thick looking file and declared they paying attention to her as she began to set up the projector for a rather disgusting slideshow.

The hours passed without anything mildly interesting happening besides the one or two ghost that decided it would be fun to groan and cry next to her ear. She would have slammed her med notes on them if it weren't for the fifty other students surrounding her. She instead voted to run her hand across them out of boredom until they went away.

Just when would this day end..? Sakura drummed her fingers impatiently, she had to get back soon to make sure her crazy room mate didn't flip a switch and destroy her apartment building.

The flickering lights brought her out of her thoughts, as it went back and forth violently. The slide show Miss Shizune was conducting began to flip out of control, passing through each slide with rapid speed as the young professor struggled to control it with her remote control, to no avail. The students began to murmur to themselves, the girl next to her began to shiver and grabbed her arm.

Sakura was about to pull her arm away when somewhere behind her screaming started. It cut through the tense silence like a knife, she quickly turned behind to see what had happened and felt her own scream climbed up her throat.

It was another black blob, it's hideous eyes turning all around the room as the girl it had latched itself upon attacked another fellow student. From her seat far below, Sakura could only notice how jerky her movements were as the thing screeched loudly. Her neighbor shook violently next to her.

Then at the corner of her eye, she noticed a line of ghost blocking the entrance of the hall. Their eerie singing made the hairs on the back of her neck tingle. It was a hauntingly beautiful song, one that nearly made her cry if she had not been trapped inside a room with a possessed student.

One of the female ghost turned to look directly at her, it smiled, showing off it's perfect white teeth, bringing a finger to it's lips. Sakura gasp, recognising it as the ghost from earlier. But it look much different somehow, the glint of intelligence in her eyes made her stomach churn, ghost weren't suppose to look like that..

Miss Shizune was now ignoring the malfunctioning projector as she went up to calm down her students. A couple of boys were struggling to restrain their maddening classmate, while she screamed and tried to claw out their eyes.

"Where is it?! Where did you hide it?!" She screeched, slowly turning paler and paler as her eyes bulged out even more. The black blob contorted and stretched itself, grabbing all four corners of the room as it scanned the room hungrily, it's eyes darting in all directions. "Where is the gift? Where did you hide the hidden gift of the God's?!" She shouted, spewing spit all over everyone near her.

"Hey man! Get a grip of yourself! What the hell are you talking about?! Oi, Shikamaru, what is wrong with your girlfriend!" The black haired one asked his brunette friend who was also struggling to hold her back, but all she did was flail around even more. The ghost at the top now were singing louder and louder, their voices ringing in her head.

"The hell if I know! Oi, Temari! Snap out of it! Stop the crazy act now!" But it was as though he was talking to the air, as the young woman continued screaming and shaking. But then, it came to a sudden stop.

"Your blood will be the price for this..." She whispered, staring at the ceiling as her eyes slowly rolled backwards and she slumped in their arms. Before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, the building began to shake, and suddenly the windows exploded, showering them with glass.

Sakura immediately ducked under her table for cover, pushing the now crying girl next to her down too. "Keep it together! You gotta try to stay calm!" She shouted at her over the shattering glass. The girl nodded slowly,and wiped her eyes with her long jacket sleeves.

Just overhead, they heard the fire alarm go off, through the window, Sakura could see that the campus building was now on fire. Her classmates began to panicked and highlighted to the door.

"Come on, lets go too!" She grabbed the girl and made way to the door with the others, only to find it block.

"What's happening up there?" She heard Miss Shizune scream over all the noise.

The boys began to push against the door, some even trying to kick it down, yet it just won't budge. "It's won't open Miss Shizune! The thing is jammed shut!"

"Let me try my keys!" Miss Shizune called and pushed he way through the crowd of students, trying her key, the lock turned, but the door still refused to open. "In her panic, she began to push hard against the door. Around them, the panic voices of the students rose slowly, choking the room with a haze of despair.

"Are we trapped here?"

"Why won't it opened, dammit!"

"What is happening!"

"I..I don't want to die!"

That last cry set the whole thing off, as Sakura saw her classmates turned into animals, desperately trying to claw their way out of the hall, their screams growing louder and more desperate by the second. She felt the girl beside her shake uncontrollably as Miss Shizune continued to try all her keys.

Soft laughter made her head snap right up, the cold amused gaze of the female ghost smiled back at her. Something wasn't right, never had she in her many years of supernatural experiences seen any ghost with any form of intelligence whatsoever. But all the ghost here, she noticed, had an unnatural sort of intelligence that made her blood feel like jelly. The fires from below grew bigger and bigger as the panic grew, Sakura herself felt terrified too.

Was this going to be her grave..? She wondered as the despair in the room suffocated her, slowly overtaking her conscious...

"I don't want to die." She heard a voice near her whisper out, and felt her hands grow wet. "I want to live..!" Her neighbor cried, face streaked with tears as she hugged Sakura for dear life.

It took four simple words to snap her awake, and Sakura Haruno felt a deep rage inside her roar out for vengeance. She snapped to the ghosts, their expressions mocking her, ridiculing her, she felt something in her snap. It was alright if they just haunted her, but bringing all these innocent people into it as well? That was just unforgivable!

She was going to make those ghosts pay.

Immediately she got up and grabbed a chair, making her way for the door. "Get out of the way!" She told them, there wasn't much time left, she eyed the ascending fire and the smoke that now covered most of the hall. If she didn't work fast, things were going to get bad.

She turned to the door and scanned it thoroughly, it seemed perfectly normal. But Miss Shizune had mentioned that something had made it stuck as it would not open despite the keys.

Dropping to the floor, she eyed the bottom part carefully, and noticed a strange glowing chain lining the ground, tracing it further, she found a rather heavy looking lock. So that was what was blocking it. She lifted the chair high above her head, and struck it hard.

"There's no point.." Sakura felt a pair of icy fingers brush her shoulder, the lips pressing hard against her ear. "There is no opening out, just lay here and sleep.." The female ghost whispered, strands of black hair tickling the back of her neck.

 _Clang. Clang. Clang._ She struck again and again, not caring that her arms were beginning to burn, or even if the ghost decided to possess her. She had to get all these poor people out. Gritting her teeth, she brought the chair hard upon the lock.

"Let it go.. Let it all go.." She felt those cold fingers curl around her neck, making it harder and harder to breathe, but she ignored it.

She was done letting people suffer because of her.

 _Clang. Clang. Clang. Chlak._ The lock broke in half, and disintegrated in a puff of black ashes. She cheered, she finally struck gold! She brought up the chair one last time to open the door, but this time, the female ghost jumped in front of her and hissed angrily as the edge of the door glowed ominously. "You're going no where, girl-"

"Shut the hell up you, freak of nature! Enough with the bullshit!" She screamed, and swung the chair at her and the door. She hit the wall with a loud thud, and slumped through it. Immediately, the door snapped opened and everyone poured out.

"Come on!" She went back and grabbed the blue haired girl, dragging her out of the hall and towards freedom. "We're gonna make it out of here!"

It was exhilarating, Sakura had never felt so alive, as they tore out of the lecture hall along with the others. Even when her calves screamed murder and she felt her lungs give way, yet the adrenaline in coursing through her veins kept her going. She beat them! She beat them! After all these years, all the ghosts and spirits that bothered had bothered her, she showed them! She was more than all of them, she was alive! Her breath was ragged, her heart racing a mile a minutes, but she just threw her head back and laughed wildly as they ran into the open air court yard and greeted the wide blue sky..

 _..oo0oo.._

"What do you mean you couldn't find it? I've gave you everything you needed have I not?" Kin lowered her head with downcast eyes, not daring to look up as she heard the drumming of fingers against the polished cedar study table. With each tap she felt her head bowing lower and lower to the ground, until her forehead touched the varnished wooden flooring.

"I beg for your apology, sir. Please, just grant us one more chance..!" The man stood up, and sauntered to her. The curtains drawn blocked all but the faintest glimmers of sunlight from entering into the study, casting long shadows. He knelt down in front of her, lifting her face up with one long finger.

"Rise, Kin.. No one is saying that it's your fault." He went in closer. "It wasn't your own arrogance that caused it after all, am I right?"

"O-Of course not! It wasn't my fault! It wasn't!" Her eyes bulged out as she began to look at around the room hysterically, 'It was that girls fault! Yes, yes! It was hers! She did it! She saw right through us!" She grabbed his suit with both hands as she sobbed uncontrollable. "Please sir, believe me! It was her! It's her fault!"

"Why, of course Kin." He patted her head and pried her fingers open. "It wasn't your fault." He picked up the folder on the table, the unmoved face of a young adult stared coolly back at him, green eyes silently glaring at him through the photo. "You're duties would suffice for now. I believe a trip to Konoha will be necessary now." He was now walking towards the door. Kin nearly ran after him in a panic, but was stopped when she felt something slither around her arm.

 _Hungry.. So hungry.._

They wrapped themselves around her arm, Kin felt her vision blur when the cool texture of the tentacle continued to slither around her throat, and right to her face. A lone blue eye stared down at her.

 _Feed us.. Miss..._

She felt her skin grow colder and colder as the block blob dragged her across the floor, paying no heed to her futile attempts to free herself. She screamed and begged for her master, fighting against the fate that he bestowed her, clawing wildly against the smooth surface, not caring how her fingers began to chip and blood dotted the ground.

"Sir! Please, forgive me! I didn't mean it!" The monster was so close now, she could see it's rows and rows of teeth. "It was her! You know it was her! Please don't do this! Please-!"

"Unfortunately, you won't be joining me this time Kin. You know how I do not tolerate failure. But our friend here on the other hand..." His cold eyes glinted maliciously as he stepped out of the door, shutting out her screams as she was devoured alive.

 _..oo0oo.._

* * *

 **A/N: Whoa, now that escalated very quickly! Just who is this mysterious man? How does this relate to Itachi? And where on earth is this story heading? Let me hear your thoughts!**

 **On a side note, this story has reached 11 favourites! Isn't that swell? Anyway, to celebrate this wonderful achievement, I would like like to write a one-shot to remember this occasion! I know the number isn't that big, but hey, everyone has got to start somewhere don't we? :D**

 **In that sense, there will be six prompts available for you to choose! The poll is up on my profile so do check it out! For those who are currently on mobile and can't check it out, here are the choices listed below. Feel free to place your vote in the reviews, but only one vote per person! ;)**

 **One-shot Prompts:**

 **1\. Stripper Au**

 **2\. Carnival AU**

 **3\. Hospital lab AU**

 **4\. Coffee shop AU**

 **5\. Feudal China/Japan AU**

 **6\. Delivery man AU**

 **So cast your votes! Voting will end one week after the ninth chapter of this story, and if you have any other suggestions you would like me to add, please do send them in! I love hearing your voices :DD**

 **R &R**


	7. Your Hand to Hold

_..oo0oo.._

 **What Lies beneath**

 **Chapter Seven**

 **Your Hand To Hold**

 _..oo0oo.._

It was exhilarating to say the least, when the pair exploded through the large wooden door and raced to the court yard where everyone gathered. Sakura felt her chest burn slightly as her lungs screamed for fresh oxygen. She started to feel a little queasy, she definitely needed to start working out.

Somewhere behind them, a fire engine pulled up just as the flames rose through the roof, the firemen working quickly and steadily to put it out. Her neighbor stumbled over, and was barely standing even as Sakura tried to balance them both.

"Hey, steady now. Look, everything is fine now." She tried to sound positive, and gestured to the firemen who shouted orders to each other, the flames growing smaller and smaller as the smoke faded. Yet, the girl shook her head, her fringe sticking to her forehead as her skin took on a deathly pale tone.

"N-No.. It's not okay. It's not fine." Sakura wasn't sure if it was the desperate note her plea had hit, or how her lavender eyes pleaded with her, but at that moment, she felt the same chilling touch spread across her skin and followed the girl's gaze way over to the roof of the building-

"Miss Shizune! Please hold back!" The sharp cry woke her, and she tore her eyes away from the building and glanced over to the crowd which had gathered around Miss Shizune and one of the security guards on campus.

"You had one job Asuma! One freaking job!" A busty blond scolded, hands placed on her hips. Sakura recognised her as the university's chancellor. The older woman was nearly a full head shorter than the security guard, but it didn't stop her from looking any less intimidating. With each syllable, she saw the man flinch from her sharp tone.

"What on earth am I paying you for if you don't even try to check if the doors here are functioning right! The last thing this place needs now is more fire incidents, another case just happened not even a week ago! There are plenty of students studying here Asuma and I'm not willing to see another pile of lawsuits against us. Have you seen the amount of paper work I have? Have you?" The blond shouted. "First some chemistry labs explode, then the library, and now the entire left wing! We already have security inspectors coming over next week, do you need government officials and news reporters to start hanging by before you start taking your job seriously?" Her fist was now inches away from his face.

"You've got to get this things checked Asuma. We nearly died in there!" Miss Shizune cried out somewhere in the crowd. "The fire was so close to burning us all, and if we had been any later, we would have died!"

The bearded man shook his head in disbelief, spluttering as he examined the keys . "I just checked all those doors in that building last week, nothing is wrong with them!"

"Oh, I'll tell you what is wrong with them-!' The chancellor had rolled up her sleeves and waved the keys in the man's face until another lecturer with wearing a surgical mask broke them apart.

"Please calm down Miss Tsunade. There are more pressing issues at hand right now. We have a couple of students in need of medical attention." He turned to the faint looking pig tailed blond leaning on who Sakura assumed was her boyfriend. "Can you walk, miss? Or should we get some help?"

The blond waved him away, "I'll be fine, I've been through worst. Some aspirin and sleep would do just fine. Come on, Shikamaru."

The lecturer shook his head. "Not with an attack like that, you're going to the medical bay. No excuses." He told her sharply when she opened her mouth to argue. "The rest of you better get back to your dorms now, report immediately if you see any suspicious behaviour." And with that, he and miss Shizune left with the limping blond and her boyfriend.

"How troublesome." Sakura heard the brunette groan, and got promptly throttled by the girl.

But she didn't have much time to stand around being amused as the chancellor walked up to her. "You girls alright?" She asked. Sakura shrugged while the girl beside her nodded weakly.

"That was some mighty scary incident that was. A minute later and you would have been this week's barbecue. " Their older lady said, winking at her, "You two take care of yourselves right now alright?" And with that she left, probably to shoo a couple more students back into their dorms, leaving the two young adults in awkward silence. Sakura shuffled her foot around restlessly while the parka clothed girl poked her fingers together. The pink haired girl resisted from groaning out loud, curse her social awkwardness!

She took her deep breath and turned to the other girl. "So, uhm... Err... Miss...?" Sakura tried to start the conversation.

"Y-yes!" The girl squeaked, making her jump slightly. She immediately blushed, and burrowed further into her parka. "I-I mean.. Thank y-"

"Hinata! Oi, Hinata, you alright? You hurting anywhere?" With that, Sakura found herself pushed to the side as a feral-looking young man sprang out of nowhere and started to get all over the shy girl. Sakura had to take a double take when a large white dog bounded excitedly behind him. He grabbed her into an awkward one sided hug. "Thank God you're alive~!"

"Kiba, if you keep squeezing her like that, she won't be alone for much longer." His friend in sunglasses murmured. Said person stuck his tongue out at him,

"Ah, suck on it Shino. You baby her too much. Don't you know Hinata can be tough as rocks when she needs to." Sakura nearly snorted, the poor girl looked as though she wanted to met through the floor as she was dragged away by the arguing duo.

"Well, I'm sure her spine is working perfectly well." The shorter of the two started to walk away, "Unlike your brain of course."

"What did you say!" Kiba was now shouting, and stomped after his friend(?). "Come back here and say it to my face, you ass! Come on, Hinata, we're not going to let him get away with this.." With that, he stomped after the snarky boy, Hinata shyly waving to Sakura as she let herself get dragged further and further away.

With that last crowd gone, Sakura found herself standing alone again in the center of the courtyard. It was peacefully silent, just the way she had lived most of her life. Undisturbed and quiet. But for some reason, she just felt a great sadness welling up inside of her as the silence stretched longer and longer. No one came to her, no one came up to check up on her, no one who gave a slightest damn about her. Empty and left behind, just like the court yard. The early autumn wind swept past her messy pink hair, a lone leaf ridding along with it. She just had to smile at the irony. She looked up into the vast blueness above, and never had she ever felt so confined.

Who was she kidding? This was what she was meant to be. This was what she had to be. It just _had_ to be.

She forgotten her place.

She will always walked alone in life, it was the road that she chose for herself. She would watched the people carry on with their perfect lives, happy and content, as they passed by her without even a second glance.

Even when she saved them all from certain death, they had just walked past her, as if she was nothing but a decoration in their perfect, perfect lives. She felt her anger swirl violently, and clenched her fist. Why did it had to be her? Why did she do to deserve this fate?!

She wanted to scream, scream till her throat went raw and started to bleed, until she keeled over and lay on the ground dead, maybe then, just then..

But Sakura Haruno couldn't bring herself to it, all she did was curl into a ball and tremble in her anguish , the air growing colder and colder as she stood alone and forgotten by the world.

Just like how it was meant to be..

"Haruno Sakura!" Her name rang out loud and clear and like a blind man seeing light for the first time, she stared in amazement as the figure rushed over to her, eventually towering over her small form.

She looked up and saw Itachi's face marred with the faintest hints of worry.

"Itachi..!" She breathed out. He grab her arm and hoisted her up, making her feel very light in the head. He looked very annoyed at her. She saw his ruffled hair and crumpled clothes, and realised with a start that he had been looking for her. He was looking for her, for _her._ She was beginning to feel a little light headed.

"Haruno Sakura bad." Itachi held up her note from this morning. She took it from him, her small fingers brushing across his long ones, feeling very confuse yet elated at the same time.

"I don't think I know where you're getting." She told him as he shove both hands into his pockets. "I mean," She flipped the paper behind. "I did write it all down to tell you... Oh." Sakura felt her face go really, really red. How stupid was she! She had forgotten he couldn't read. "Sorry." She squeaked.

Itachi sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder, she halfheartedly tried to push it off. "Haruno Sakura safe."

"Yeah.." She felt her eyes grow glassy. "I'm.. safe.." She fought back the urge to smile as she walked together with him. "Let's go grab some lunch."

Everyone had passed her, all her life since the day she started to see ghosts. When she had crossed over into the realm of the dead, she had left behind her ability to live normally among the living. She had become unwanted, unneeded, nothing more than trash.

As everyone passed her on the highway, Sakura found herself stuck alone in the vast desert, her car refusing to move as it slowed to a stop, and firmly rooted itself unto the ground. And, no matter how hard she tried, the engine just wouldn't start.

But Itachi came into her car, broken and worn, and he sat next to her. He had chose to be with her ruined self, out of all the moving cars on the road. He had decided to enter hers and sit by her side, even if it meant waiting for an eternity for her engine to finally come alive again.

And that was enough for her to get out and start finding some gas.

For the first time in six years, Sakura finally found the courage to trust.

 _..oo0oo.._

It was not surprising to say the least, when Itachi sat across Sakura the very next day with a notebook open and a few books scattered around him. His brow so furrowed in concentration that one might wrongfully assume that he was in a national chess competition.

"Come on, you can do it." She encouraged him patiently, pointing at the book. "Look at it carefully and think back, we just did this." He stared harder into the book and opened his mouth hesitantly.

"I-If we d-desire.. Law to be.."He paused and looked up at her for encouragement. She nodded and pointed at the next word. "R-Respec-Respectable.. We have to r-respect the law.."

"Good job. See, you're doing much better now." She patted him on the shoulder. He looked distinctly pleased with himself, with his chest puffed out proudly, but as usual said nothing. Sakura pulled the thick law book away from him and glanced at the clock on the wall. It read ten minutes to five. They've been going at this for almost four hours straight since their last break, but Itachi had no sign from slowing down, and quickly pulled a heavy looking marine biology book towards him."

"Keep on going, Haruno Sakura." He flipped open the book excitably, almost tearing a few pages out with his force. Sakura quickly shut the book before he got to the section about ocean mammals. The last time he saw a blue whale he had grown so excited he made the shelves tremble so violently all the books fell off. She definitely remembered Miss Tsunade's glowering expression and decided to save the poor lady from more paper work.

"Uhm, no. I think we should work on your writing now, just in case." Itachi looked longingly at the other book and pulled another notebook closer to him. He flipped through pages of chicken scrawl and eventually came to an empty page.

"Alright then. Just repeat what I say." Itachi sullenly refused to look at her but took up his pen anyway. Sakura sighed, it was like teaching a child honestly. "She sells seashells by the seashore." She glanced over at his work, but was blocked by his arm. "Do you want me to repeat myself?"

"No, Haruno Sakura." He scribbled it down fast, and glanced up at her expectantly for the next phrase.

That was how their day had went. Reading law books, writing simple phrases or rhymes, and occasionally taking short breaks. Sakura was lucky her student was so eager, he absorbed everything up like a sponge and threw back more than what he was given. Sakura would be hard pressed to find any complaints about her student, he was bright, hard-working and had _very_ high expectations of himself. She assumed he must have been some sort of scholar in his previous life to be this desperate for knowledge. Truth be told, she had her reservations at first about going to the university library and feared the reading material would be too heavy for him. But the space had been relatively empty since the fire, even it's librarian, an eccentric girl named Shiho who for the most part burrowed up in her office reading. And it was her pressing need for privacy that ultimately brought them here.

"You're working really well, Itachi. If we keep this up you'll be proficient in no time." She told him after the fifth phrase. He mumbled a response but didn't look up. She peaked and saw him struggling slightly to finish the last word. Sakura had seen many a genius burn out due to pushing themselves way past their limits, and found it to be a pity if Itachi fell into that same trap.

"We should take a break now, get a drink or two, and come back to finish up your writing." She flipped through his note book, and felt very pleased with his improving handwriting. It looked significantly less like scribbles and more like proper words now. They both got up and went to the courtyard. Sakura stretched and hummed when the warm rays of the sun kissed her cheeks, the rare breeze messing up a pink hair. She took in a deep breath, slowly exhaling. She smelled the dry leaves, the sweet smell of maple leaves, and crisp coolness of the air, and deeply appreciated it. With the winter drawing nearer, she would soon no longer be able to enjoy this familiar warmth. She probably had to start finding her thickest jacket too.

She felt Itachi stir restlessly next to her, his can drink spilled over the floor, but he didn't seem to care as he bolted upright and stared into the shadows made by the columns. She almost asked him what was wrong when she felt it too. Her eyes widened with shock as dread settled in her, as she forced her head to turn to his direction.

 _Food.. Where is the food..?_

 _Give us the food.._

 _So hungry.._

A million voices invaded her mind, each screaming for her attention. She clutched her throbbing head, and tried to stop herself from falling to the ground. She saw the familiar black blob oozing out of the ground, forming morbid looking limbs in the process. It's many eyes focused on them as it's arms waved dangerously around it.

 _Must get.. Must eat.._

 _Very hungry.._

 _Time to.. EAT..!_

It's screamed was piercing and Sakura nearly doubled over from pain as the monster lunged itself furiously at them. She could only see it get closer and closer until she could see its's rows of teeth, but found herself suddenly way up in the air before she was thrown unceremoniously across the courtyard.

Sakura struggled to get up, rubbing her back and gasp as Itachi evaded the monster's blows, and froze. His face was expressionless as always, but there was a certain dangerous calculating glint in his eyes, as if he were predicting the monster's next move, his posture tensed. It was a different side of him she had never seen before, as he dodged the attacks with so much agility and grace it intimidated her. Her eyes grew wide when she saw him deliver a hard back kick to the eye and sent it wheeling back and crying out in pain. Since when could Itachi fight like that? The sluggish guy who refused to pick up his pillows on the floor was now jumping around like a panther as the monster's attacks grew more destructive. He raced around the creature at blurring speed, and shot recklessly towards it.

Her heart climbed to her throat when he stumbled slightly from one of the stray tentacles that had lunged for him, and skidded across the tiled floor. He was pressed back against the fountain when a million arms surrounded him and nailed him firmly to it. Itachi struggled against the arms, desperately trying to free himself when a cool black arm wrapped itself around his face.

And he stopped moving. The lack of oxygen was familiar to him, and he felt the strange sensation of falling through an endless darkness as a thousand silent memories passed him in a blur.

A moving car. A young child. A crying woman. Many, many flowers marred by the sick smell of burning paper..

He felt himself losing conscious, sleep calling for his name..

"Get the hell away from him!" Itachi awoke and saw Haruno Sakura in all her pink headed anger rush towards the monster with her back pack held dangerously over her head. He wanted to scream for her to go away, to run and save herself. What could she do? She was only a human girl fighting against hell's demon. But when she met his eyes, his uncertainties faded away.

Burning emerald, tough and shining like the rarest form of jade.

And Itachi learned, that she was alive, and that was enough.

Living, breathing Haruno Sakura threw her bag at the monster yowling her war cry, hitting it square in the eye. The monster clutched it's eye and stumbled around in pain, before turning lividly towards the girl and slapped her to the other side, she gasped out in pain, clutching her stomach, successfully distracting it from him.

Sakura could feel the rush of air around her as the arms sailed towards her, sharpening into malicious looking blades. But the distraction she had given Itachi was more than enough for him to free himself from the monster's grasp with quick slashes and blew a giant fireball in it's direction.

The heat from the flames was terrifying, as it engulfed the black creature whole, the flames spreading across the large body quickly and burnt it into a crisp. The light it brought forth was almost blinding, but Sakura just couldn't find it within herself to tear her eyes away from the flames.

And when she saw the ashes before her disintegrating slowly into the air, she only had eyes for the Itachi who trudged through the pile of ashes and gave her his hand.

She grabbed it and allowed him to pulled her up, feeling very loss for words for that moment. There were so many unanswered questions, so many mysteries surrounding them both, the recent uprising of dark creatures not withstanding. But even in the center of a very scorched earth, her hands still fit perfectly in his.

Out of the rising smoke, a silhouette stumbled to them, the smoke blocking the person's face from view. But as they went closer, Sakura came face to face with a very pale Hinata Hyuga.

"Ano.. Y-You can see ghost too right? I-I.. have a favour to ask.."

 _..oo0oo.._

 **A/N: Well well well, what does Hinata Hyuga want? This will be a secret, huhu...**

 **On a side note, the poll is currently still ongoing! So far, the stripper AU, Hospital AU,and Carnival AU are all tied! So go and vote! The winning vote will be the chosen one-shot prompt!**

 **Special thanks to Mokki-chan** **for her very lovely review, honestly speaking your review was what pushed me to write this chapter :) Never underestimate the power of reviews dear readers!**

 **Next Chapter: Hinata Hyuga's request is insane, and Sakura is dragged deeper into the world she wanted to escape.**

 **R &R**


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